I have been writing a series of five stories - The Tear-Stained Memoirs - for nearly three years now and these stories are my like children.

Tear-Stained Series

1)Alone (The main story and most important... a must-read if you want to understand the rest of them properly) - POSTED AND COMPLETE
1.5) Someone Help Me - POSTED AND COMPLETE
2) The Pain of Passion - POSTED WIP
3) A Heart's Confession (A short two-chaptered story)
4) When I Go Down (The main sequel to Alone. You can probably read this without reading any of the other stories...)
5) In the Dark (May also be read without reading the rest)

EXTREMELY PROUD NOMINEE FOR THE QSQ AWARDS!
Four noninations for Alone as best Dark/Angsty
One nomination for Beauty from Pain for best romance-canon
Two nominations for Someone Help Me for best poem

Summary: One day in the life of Katherine Waters. After washing her face, she looked at her reflection in the mirror.When she was young, Katherine loved mirrors. She spent hours studying every angle and every pore in her face, but now she hated them. They were a constant reminder that her life was drifting away.

This story was the runner up for challenge #2 conflict of the June/July monthly challenge.

Just kidding. here's the real review. I loved this story. Boy, was 'Critical Rupert' wrong when 'he' made the assumption that the main character had a really short and uneventful life! Once again, I am amazied by your writing talent.

'“You passed out,” informed Victor in an I-told-you-so tone.' I love that line. It's such a simple line, yet it fits perfectly.

'“You look beautiful, by the way.”

“I always do,” said Katherine, standing up.' Oh! Someone was feeling a bit full of herself, huh? I feel bad for Viktor (who is not Viktor Krum) because it's obvious he cares for Katherine, but she just can't be bothered with him because of what she's been through.

'Katherine locked the door of the bathroom behind her and after looking at herself in the mirror, she crumbled down in tears. She had learned how to cry silently. It didn’t matter how sad she was or how much she cried; she did it silently. She placed one hand on the counter and the other on her chest while she gasped for air.

She couldn’t bear the sorrow anymore. Katherine wasn’t the strong woman she once was. The tears slid down her cheeks, her legs trembled, and her stomach tightened from the efforts of crying silently.

“Oh, God,” she sobbed.

Her legs finally gave in and she fell to the floor.' That is such good description. I could see it clearly in my mind. And that takes skill.Which you have... skill.

Author's Response: I loved Critical Rupert\'s critiques! Seriously when I read it I alomst chocked laughing. Katherine is a bit full of herself, all that she\'s been through hasn\'t tought her some modesty. And her husband is not Viktor Krum because it\'s spelled Victor not Viktor (duh!) I\'m happy you liked the scene were she cries, that was a really hard scene to write. Thank you for the wonderful review!

This was a really good story. Stories are always better when they deal with personal experience and your own feelings. That way they're so real and it's much easier to get your thoughts across. Excellent job, and I hope you don't have to deal with something like hurting yourself again.

I got way into it. Very well written. I can't wait to read more about them. I love the name Uriah. Just saying... I love it and I am muy depressed chapter two isn't up, but then again, chapter one was just accepted, so... ya...

Author's Response: Thanks Gabby! *squee*
Yeah, next chapter will be mostly about Uriah and Avalon\'s relationship, then the good bits unfold laters.

Summary: Amanda wasn’t much different from the other girls at Hogwarts. Except for the fact that she decided to end her life. She also considered Remus Lupin to be her only friend. That’s why when the school is going to hold a service in her memory Remus is the one chosen to write a eulogy. The problem is that Remus barely knew her and doesn’t know what to write. That’s when Sirius decides to help him.

First off... OMG I LOVE IT! *ahem* now, I have oficially joined the ranks of the teary-eyed readers. The story was absolutely fabulous.

You did an amazing job getting the characterization and the reaction to Amanda's death. Spot on. I've had a classmate pass away before and you could not have gotten the situation closer to the truth. I think Beth mentioned that she couldn't figure out Amanda's relatonship with Remus and if he wasn't close friends, why was he so sad and confused in the beginning. But once again, you got the characterization perfect... from my point of view at least. When a classmate passes away so young, it hits you hard. I reacted similarly to Remus *if not, I took it worse* even though I had only met the boy once.

I love how the story is writen from Amanda's point of veiw. It gives the reader a very good view of the situation. You can see everything that is going on. It's also nice for a bit of a change in perspective. I rarely read stories that are told by someone other than the people in it.

Sirius and Remus. You're fantastic at writing this ship. Who'd have thought I would ever be a Sirius/Remus shipper? not me, that's for sure. I liked how you managed to have two plots in this story. One of Amanda and Remus' need to talk at her service, and then With Sirius and Remus getting together. It's so perfect how you mention remus feeling better just at the sight of Sirius. It totally does make you feel better just seeing someone you care for.

You wrote everything perfectly. I'm jealous... why can't I do that? So this is another fabulous story by Harald that I will be adding to my favourites list. Great job. I loved it. Did I mention that yet?

Author's Response: Gabby!!! *tackles* Teary eyed readers please stand on this side of the room, thank you. Sorry, couldn\'t help it. Thanks for liking how I portrayed the reactions to her death, and I\'m sorry you had to go through that yourself. It was a hard postion to get myself into, but I like how it all turned out. Sirius/Remus how can\'t you love them? I think they\'re a perfect couple they balance each other out really nicely. Is was about to make this story Ron/Hermione, but then I was like noooo. I don\'t think i wrote everything perfectly, but thanks for saying it. *huggles* Thanks for the review!!!

This is a very good story. I like it. It's not just another James and Lily fanfiction. You've taken the time to notice the little characters and write a nice fic about them. it was well written with some really good descriptions. There were sentences in there that i stopped reading to re read a sentence because I though it was so perfect for the story. I like the flashbacks. I'm a fan of them in writing. all in all, this was a good story I liked it a lot.

Author's Response: Thanks! I really like minor characters, so I had fun writing about Susan. And I love flashbacks too! :]

Summary: Lucius Malfoy is alone, a prisoner in Azkaban and in himself. Haunted by visions of his son's death each night, Lucius worries his mind is deteriorating. But he has no idea how deathly accurate these nightmares are.

Written by Madame Marauder of Gryffindor House for the "Dreams" challenge.

This story is phenomenal. I can't believe that there aren't fifty thousand reviews all saying that this is amazing. I love the descritions. You're amazing at conveying emotions through the perfect descriptions. I can vividly see Lucius Malfoy, on the floor of his cell, shaking and dreaming. It takes a very good writer for the reader to actually see what they're reading.There wasn't a second where I wasn't sure what was going on in the story. The ending was perfect. What am I saying?!!?!? The whole story was perfect. I give it an A++++ Fantastic piece of writing.

Believe it or not, James, I think I have actually read this before. :) No bother, it was still good the second time around :) I liked it a lot. I'm glad I read it (again). I look forward to seeing more from you!

Author's Response: Thanks Gabby. I'll definitly tell you when there is more which hopefuly will be soon.

Summary: Morgana, a sorceress with a grudge against King Arthur and his sorcerous adviser Merlin, has abducted Sir Lancelot. Meaning to rescue Lancelot, Merlin goes to Morgana. Merlin is confident of his winning out - but Morgana intends to send him away a broken man.

I am Minnabird of Hufflepuff, submitting for the Gift of Gab section of the Bookbasilisk Challenge.

The writing itself is very good and I am impressed. I like your style. I must say though, I was a bit confused as to who was speaking an when. I understand that this was for a challenge where you must only use dialog, correct? But having three characters whom we do not know the personalities of has thrown me off. If it had been between Harry and Voldemort, the speaker would be obvious, but since only someone well read on Merlin and Morgana and Lancelot would know their traits, I was a bit caught up. I do hope you have other stories to read thoug, because through this, it is clear you have talent and I would enjoy to read more from you. Good work :)

Author's Response: Yes, the challenge was to use dialogue only, spoken between two characters. The two speakers were Merlin and Morgana, and Lancelot and Niniane had non-speaking roles. And I know they were very far from the usual canon and unfamiliar, but I had the strongest urge to write about their motivations and ideas - they're going to be minor characters in "Tales of Wildwood" but there wouldn't have been much scope for the backstories about Morgana's parents and erstwhile husband and Merlin's relationship with Niniane. (Why do I always feel the need for explanation?) Anyways. Thank you very much for leaving a review and I'm glad you liked my style even though you had some issues understanding what was going on. =)